MATERIAL BALANCE

HIGH PRESSURE, HIGH COMPRESSIBILITY GAS RESERVOIR

Problem :
A high pressure gas reservoir with the following characteristic is being studied. Reservoir
temperature is 250 deg.F, initial pressure is 10000 psia, and gas spesific gravity is 0.7 (no inerts
present). Water connate saturation is 30%, formation compressibility is 30e-6 /psi and water
compressibility is 3e-6 /psi. This is the production and pressure history.

A p/z plot has been made that indicates the OGIP is 124 BCF. Do you agree with this estimate of
OGIP?

Answer:

For determining OGIP using p/z plot, the method require 3 assumptions, such as :

a. The compressibility of gas at normal pore pressure is much greater than rock and water
compressibility.
b. No water production and water influx (volumetric reservoir).
c. Isothermal condition.

At the case, the reservoir is high pressure. So, we need to calculate the gas compressibility from
the compressibility gas equation.

1 1 ∂𝑍
𝐶𝑔 = − ( )
𝑃 𝑍 ∂P 𝑇

Using the first and second data, the compressibility of gas is

1 1 1.4110 − 1.3700
𝐶𝑔 = − ( ) = 4.2 𝑥 10−5 /𝑝𝑠𝑖
10000 1.4110 10000 − 9500

The gas compressibility is not much greater than the rock and water compressibility. So, the
OGIP determination using p/z plot will lead to wrong number of OGIP. The actual OGIP will be
different than calculated OGIP using p/z.
So, we need to use particular material balance equation for gas reservoir to determine the OGIP.
We still use the second assumption (no produced water).

𝑆𝑤𝑐 𝑐𝑤 + 𝑐𝑓
𝐺(𝐵𝑔 − 𝐵𝑔𝑖 ) + 𝐺𝐵𝑔𝑖 ( ) Δ𝑃 = 𝐺𝑝 𝐵𝑔
1 − 𝑆𝑤𝑐

If we rearrange this equation, then

𝑆𝑤𝑐 𝑐𝑤 + 𝑐𝑓
𝐺 ((𝐵𝑔 − 𝐵𝑔𝑖 ) + 𝐵𝑔𝑖 ( ) Δ𝑃) = 𝐺𝑝 𝐵𝑔
1 − 𝑆𝑤𝑐

This equation similar to

𝐴𝑥 = 𝑦

𝑆𝑤𝑐 𝑐𝑤 +𝑐𝑓
So we can determine the OGIP by plotting ((𝐵𝑔 − 𝐵𝑔𝑖 ) + 𝐵𝑔𝑖 ( ) Δ𝑃) vs 𝐺𝑝 𝐵𝑔
1−𝑆𝑤𝑐

𝑺𝒘𝒄 𝒄𝒘 + 𝒄𝒇
((𝑩𝒈 − 𝑩𝒈𝒊 ) + 𝑩𝒈𝒊 ( ) 𝜟𝑷) 𝑮𝒑 𝑩𝒈
𝟏 − 𝑺𝒘𝒄

0 0
0,000124942 0,014473
0,000254592 0,029617
0,000394501 0,045586
0,000546595 0,062574
0,000707957 0,080688
0,000889175 0,100387
0,001088657 0,121912
0,001088657 0,145988
0,001088657 0,173255
0,001088657 0,204932
0,001088657 0,242622
 0,3

0,25 y = 107,2x + 0,003

R² = 0,9994

0,2

0,15

0,1

0,05

0
0 0,0005 0,001 0,0015 0,002 0,0025

The graph is very close to linear with slope = 107,2. So the real OGIP is 107,2 BCF.

Permadi, A. K. (2016). Introduction to Petroleum Reservoir Engineering. Bandung: Penerbit Itb.